ONE OF the most ‘gifted’ singer and songwriters will he heading to Basingstoke to pull on your heartstrings later on this month.

Teddy Thompson is a singer-songwriter who released his sixth solo album Heartbreaker Please on May 8, which tells the story of the breakdown of love and it is as satisfying as it is devastatingly honest.

The album is drawn from the demise of a real-life relationship set against the backdrop of New York City, the place the singer has called home for the better part of two decades.

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Since his career started he has been called “one of the most gifted singer-songwriters of his generation” by The New York Times.

Born of folk royalty – Richard Thompson is his father and his mother is singer Linda Thompson - Teddy Thompson has developed into a charismatic live performer, writing his own songs that sound like classics and making great songs his own.

Teddy said: “I’ve always liked the directness of country music. I first got into it when my dad used to take me and my sister on road trips to Scotland. The cassettes in the car were probably a compromise between what he wanted to listen to and what we kids would tolerate, but that’s where I first fell in love with Hank Williams and the Everly Brothers.

“The Everlys were more pop than country, I suppose, but they shared that quality of songwriting that really inspires me – short, sad, funny and heartbreaking songs that are really worked out and deeply personal”.

He has released five albums to critical acclaim and has contributed to the soundtrack of the Golden Globe and Bafta-winning film Brokeback Mountain

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He added: “Any venue that doesn’t want me to play had better chain up the front doors, because I’m really keen to get in front of my audiences. I love that sense of living inside the songs and bringing them to life which you can only do when people are responding to your music live.”

Roseanne Reid will open for Teddy on all dates, she is the daughter of the Proclaimers’ Craig Reid.

He will be hitting the Haymarket on Saturday, January 29 as part of his new tour.

Visit: www.anvilarts.org.uk.

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